Bring Out Your Undead

By its second year, the Denver Zombie Crawl had become one of the biggest zombie-walk events in the country, says founder Daniel Newman  and he hopes that this year, the Crawls fourth, it will be deemed the biggest in the world. But while Seattle currently holds the fancy-pants Guinness World Record for largest zombie gathering, at 3,894 participants, Newman is really more interested in an unofficial official tally. For good reason.

We were talking to the Guinness people, Newman explains, but we found out its a moneymaking scam for them. You actually have to pay $2,800 to get the guy out here, and I literally pay for this entire thing out of pocket.

New this year is a Zombie Makeup 101 lesson taught by special-effects pros; costume contests for all ages; a flash-mob-style Thriller dance performance; and live music by the Widows Bane. As always, booze is prohibited and undead families are encouraged. Pre-crawl activities begin at 3 p.m. in Skyline Park, 16th and Arapahoe streets. The main event begins at 6, traveling down the 16th Street Mall to Glenarm Place and back, where the activities continue. Potential zombies without costumes will likely find vats and vats of blood to spare, along with help designing cuts, bruises and bites. Willing victims are encouraged to wear duct-taped Xs on their chests and station themselves along the route, ready for attack. Innocent bystanders, promises Newman, are totally safe and will be thoroughly entertained.